


grounding

by tatooines



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Poe Dameron - Freeform, Sad Fluff, Slow Dancing, Stormpilot, fn2187, stormpilot trash, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 20:57:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5884927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatooines/pseuds/tatooines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when the war dies down temporarily and Poe Dameron still finds himself unable to sleep at night--nightmares of metal syringes and steel-cold claws lurking in the back of his mind, ready to pounce once his eyelids fall heavy--Finn clasps his hands and tells him that even after he draws his last breath he will never, ever, let the monsters take him away. </p><p>A Stormpilot drabble.</p><p>(mild trigger warning/mentions of anxiety)</p>
            </blockquote>





	grounding

_window, night. door, table, chair,_

_thud_. "I'll be right there", Finn whispers to himself, straightening his back as he shuffles out of bed.

 _Thud_. "Good morning to you too, BB-8." he yawns, and the droid whirrs out of the room.

Night Cycle 5, 4:00 am.

This time, he finds him sitting on the floor, back resting against the bed frame, unlit cigarette twirled in between two fingers, trembling. He is always trembling. "Let's see," Finn slumps down beside him and takes Poe's hand, filling the spaces between his fingers, "last time it was pure darkness, and Wompas, and" he chuckles, "Sandpeople?"

"He'll have to go through me first before he does, the bastard," Poe sneers, teeth grit, left fist clenched.

"It was a nightmare and it wasn't real--"

"He killed you," he chokes out the words, the gravity of it pulling his body to the ground, "he killed you, and Rey, and everyone, and left me alone to die, but he didn't kill me."

"It was a nightmare and it wasn't real," Finn takes him into his arms and pulls him up to stand, "I am here and I am real," he smiles and cups Poe's face into his hands, "I am real."

"He didn't kill me, he let me watch you die"

Finn lets go of Poe, walks to BB-8 and inserts a small flash drive with a rusty resistance emblem carved on the platinum case. Soon the droid starts to play music, and Finn walks to Poe, arms outstretched.

"Dance with me?"

\---

They started coming in after the turmoil met a temporary silence.

Suddenly the pilots were allowed to visit their families. Suddenly Rey is on Ach-to to train with Luke again. Suddenly Leia Organa isn't panicking in the main control room, and is instead attending to closed-door meetings with the Resistance. Suddenly Chewbacca is working on the Falcon. Suddenly the air is colder than it has ever been before. Suddenly the snow falls in white sheets outside his bedroom window. Suddenly Poe Dameron is quiet. Suddenly Poe Dameron sits by the edge of his bed at night, face buried in his hands. Suddenly he is screaming. Suddenly Finn is trying to lull him back to sleep.

Suddenly, it is winter.

"Your absence, Rey's absence, and the death of a lot of comrades. His torture. A lot of terrible things." the General tells Finn after he musters up the courage to confide in her.

\---

"They call it grounding," he tells Poe the next morning over breakfast. "You mention everything you can see in the room, and--"

Poe takes a huge swig out of his coffee, "All I need is sleep," 

"It might help, Poe." 

 

He has been helping him mention everything from the color of the walls to the feel of the floorboards since the week it started. The music was all Finn's idea. Dancing calmed Poe down.

\--- 

They are swaying to slow music. Poe is resting his head on the ridge of Finn's collarbone. 

"Wood." 

"Good," Finn smiles, "what else?" 

"Bed, lights. Door." A stilled silence, fingers tracing the outlines of Finn's lips.

"...you." 

 

Poe kisses him and everything is real again.

**Author's Note:**

> short Stormpilot drabble based on this beautiful piece of art (http://kaciart.tumblr.com/post/138365275968) 
> 
> cigarettes (APPARENTLY THERE ARE CIGARRAS THAT AREN'T DEATHSTICKS!!!): http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cigarette  
> on grounding: http://www.peirsac.org/peirsacui/er/educational_resources10.pdf
> 
> \--  
> off-work note: 
> 
> Grounding has helped me this year with overcoming my anxiety (especially when in the Uni and at the library or the classroom or anywhere where I can't immediately be around people I am comfortable with). This technique may not work for everybody, but it sure helps.
> 
> EDIT:   
> listen to the complementary slow dance playlist here: http://8tracks.com/rattlethestars_/lay-all-your-armor-down


End file.
